Built in 1997, the 8,140-square-foot auto service garage at 6957 Stage Road in Northeast Memphis sits on 1.1 acres and has a 2013 appraised value of $615,700, according to the Shelby County Assessor of Property.

Built in 1999, the 12,026-square-foot auto service garage at 7291 Winchester Road in Southeast Memphis sits on 1 acre and has a 2013 appraised value of $498,700, according to the assessor.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

FedEx to Buy Back Up to 32 Million Shares

FedEx is planning to buy back up to 32 million shares of its common stock.

The package delivery company said that the new repurchase authorization augments the remaining 7.4 million shares under its existing buyback program.

FedEx repurchased 2.8 million shares in its fiscal first quarter. The company had 317 million outstanding shares as of Sept. 30.

Last month FedEx reported that its first-quarter profit climbed 7 percent. The company also announced that it would raise prices on many U.S. shipments in January.

– The Associated Press

Overton Square Gets New Signage, Website

Loeb Properties Inc. is introducing a new branding campaign for Overton Square that pays tribute to the district’s storied past while including a more modern approach.

Loeb is eschewing the speak box images that dotted the area during redevelopment and is introducing a new “Overton Square” marker.

The new signs are similar to the original ones that marked the district, but include three color schemes featuring bright colors that invoke the public art located throughout the district. The letters O and S are also interlocked, which Loeb said provides a more modern option of an abbreviated medallion.

“The purple speak box logo was perfect for our development phase, as the image of the speak box encouraged the public to have a voice and share their ideas about what we are doing at Overton Square,” said Lou Loeb, executive vice president of Asset Management for Loeb. “As our focus turned more toward operations, we decided to bring back an updated version of the original icon as a symbol of all the public passion that made this rebirth possible.”

Downtown Slider Crawl Planned for Nov. 6

Another Memphis Dishcrawl event is on the way.

Next up is the Downtown Slider Crawl Nov. 6. Four Downtown chefs will create special slider-related items for participants to enjoy. The restaurants that participants will visit, as with all Dishcrawl events, will remain a secret until 48 hours beforehand.

Commission Approves Prison Medical Contract

The Shelby County Commission approved Monday, Oct. 14, an $18.2 million annual contract with Correct Care Solutions LLC to provide medical services to prisoners at the Shelby County jail and inmates at the county corrections center. The contract includes four one-year renewal periods and is the highest-dollar contract on which the commission votes.

Correct Care Solutions won a separate contract earlier this year to provide such services for children in detention at Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court.

Commissioner Mike Ritz led critics of the contract, saying the county should rebid it because Correct Care Solutions was the only bidder and because the contract could have been broken into parts to encourage more bidders.

Other commissioners and Luttrell said there were attempts to do that and any bidder could have bid on just one part of the contract. Luttrell also said he talked with local hospital and health care corporations about taking on the contract but got no takers.

In other action, the commission approved $750,000 in funding for the Nov. 21 city of Memphis referendum on a half-percent sales tax hike. The money is to be reimbursed to the county.

The commission also approved a $396,094 contract with the University of Memphis for Geographic Information System design and data collection services through visual stream surveys.

And commission Chairman James Harvey’s ordinance to regulate used-tire dealers and haulers in the unincorporated county passed on the second of three readings.

– Bill Dries

Black Girls CODE Holds Next Workshop Nov. 2

The Memphis chapter of Black Girls CODE is hosting its fifth workshop Nov. 2 in the Nolan Engineering Building at Christian Brothers University.

The workshop will be geared toward introducing participants to animation, gaming and creating interactive stories, and no prior programming experience is required.

Core team lead Meka Egwuekwe said the organization hopes that after participating in the classes, girls decide it is easy and fun to code – and that some of them decide to pursue careers in software.

Workshops are $35 per child, with limited scholarships available. Because of limited space, parents are encouraged to register children online as soon as possible.

The workshop is open to all girls ages 10-17. For additional information, contact Egwuekwe at meka@lokion.com or 901.484.4203.

– Andy Meek

Nearly 400 Labor Department Workers Furloughed

Nearly 400 state workers in the Tennessee Department of Labor are being furloughed because of the partial federal government shutdown.

According to WKRN-TV, 369 workers began their furloughs on Monday. Twenty-seven workers within the department started last week.

Department spokesman Jeff Hentschel says the workers will be on unpaid leaves of absence until the state hears otherwise.

The department receives the bulk of its funding from Washington for things like administering unemployment benefits

Hentschel says those benefits are still being processed and state-run career offices remain open.